Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. The cymbals that are played by drummers in a band or orchestra are conventionally mounted onto a cymbal stand. To assist in being mounted, a cymbal has a centrally located, circular aperture that is sized to fit around an externally threaded cylindrical portion of the cymbal stand.
Most cymbal stands have legs which rest on the ground and a shaft which extends vertically from the legs. In some instances the cymbal is mounted onto the uppermost portion of the vertical shaft, while in other cases, the cymbal is mounted onto one end of a boom arm that is attached to the vertical shaft so as to position the cymbal closer to the drummer.
The conventional method of mounting a cymbal onto a stand involves the following steps. First, a plastic sleeve with an outwardly projecting rim is fitted over the lower end of the externally threaded portion of the shaft. A felt washer is then slipped over the plastic sleeve to sit on the rim of the sleeve, followed by the cymbal. A second felt washer is then placed over the cymbal and a wing nut screwed down upon the upper felt washer to hold the cymbal onto the cymbal stand.
This well known method of mounting a cymbal onto a stand suffers from several disadvantages. For example, the time taken to securely mount a cymbal onto a stand or to detach a securely mounted cymbal can be lengthy; the wing nut can be over-tightened and consequently cause damage to the cymbal when played; and the small nature of the separate parts involved means that the parts frequently get misplaced.
Quick-release fixtures to attach a cymbal onto a cymbal stand are known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,083 describes such a cymbal mounting fixture.
However, there are a number of difficulties and/or disadvantages associated with the cymbal mounting fixtures of the prior art, including that the fixture is susceptible to working itself loose and detaching itself from the cymbal stand as the cymbal is played.
It is an object of the invention to provide a percussion instrument mounting apparatus that will overcome at least some of the abovementioned difficulties and/or disadvantages.